This morning, I read a great piece about the importance of feeling stupid while doing research. I have written before about how feeling diffident can push one to work harder, especially those of us prone to overconfidence. But, this blog was about something else. It spoke to the primary difference between being a good student and being a good researcher. It is possible to be a good student without being a good researcher. One might be great at grasping the import of other people's discoveries, but might lack the intellectual curiosity and creative thinking to make discoveries of one's own. Being a good researcher involves becoming comfortable with "immersion into the unknown". It takes a lot of getting used to, as I am discovering at the start of the final year of my PhD.
Doing a PhD involves feeling very big (sometimes) and feeling very small (most of the time). A single person's research is a pinprick compared to the vastness of the unknown. But, it is these pinpricks numbering in the billions (and a few stabs by geniuses) that have been the motor of advancement of our species.
Doing a PhD involves feeling very big (sometimes) and feeling very small (most of the time). A single person's research is a pinprick compared to the vastness of the unknown. But, it is these pinpricks numbering in the billions (and a few stabs by geniuses) that have been the motor of advancement of our species.
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